This is actually the second time I've written this; the first version was deleted when our lovely system went down. This time, I'll write it with the assistance of fine beverage.
Coach Sumlin said the game was a tale of two halves, and he's right. The Aggies played about as well as you can play in the first half, then went in their shells and played a very unimpressive second half with the backups in. I don't think Sumlin was irritated by the second half score, but the lack of effort and the mistakes that led to it.
First, the positives, and they are many. Let's start with Kyle Allen, who was just toying with Ball State by the time the middle of the second quarter rolled around. He was 10-13 with 3 TDs, and he didn't throw a pass that looked like it could be picked off by a defender. You can debate the fade to Josh Reynolds, but he knows Reynolds so well that probably was the least of his worries. The TD pass to Jordan Davis was like stealing, but the last one, to Jeremy Tabuyo, was a thing of beauty. He told us afterwards that it was the same play he had hit RSJ on earlier, and he expected that their safety would fade to double RSJ, leaving the post open. That's what happened, and he threw a perfect ball to Tabuyo for the score. Allen showed hit accuracy throwing on the move, kept drives alive with his feet and basically commanded the offense, making numerous playcall changes at the line. He's good, and he's getting better.
Christian Kirk is beyond good. He's amazing. He's so deadly that Allen has the ability to change a play to target Kirk any time he wants to. And why not? The kid is virtually unstoppable. He's the most exciting wideout I've seen at A&M, and only Johnny tops him in terms of overall excitement. And he's played two games.
The starting offensive line was much better today, particularly in run blocking. There were big holes for the backs to run through, especially Brice Dolezal and Kwame Etwi. The Aggies picked up 270 yards on the ground, the most since the 2013 Cotton Bowl, and averaged 5.5 YPC. Etwi went over 100 yards in his first career appearance.
The defense, after giving up the 74 yards to start the game in two plays, Was stout. Ball State got about 20 more yards for the whole half, and that was it. At once point, they had run 24 plays for 18 yards. The Aggies didn't pick up a lot of sacks, but they dominated the line of scrimmage. Alonzo Williams may not get a lot of publicity, but he's playing extremely well and has had some huge stops in goal to go situations. Getting Otaro Alaka back out there with Shaan Washington was a big deal. The Aggies have plenty of speed to go sideline to sideline with their ones.
Bravo to Devante Harris, who has been the target of a lot of abuse -- much of it justified -- around here the past couple of years. He's stronger and smarter this year, and it shows in his play. He made a great play on a pass breakup to force a punt on one BSU possession, then got a pick six the next. Sumlin, you could tell, was really delighted with his play. Brandon Williams and Nick Harvey haven't been perfect, but they've been better than expected. If both learn from their experiences, they should get better as the season goes on.
And then the second half. At one point tonight, the Aggies had a front line on offense of Ryan Lindblade, Jermaine Eluemunor, J.J. Gustafson, Connor Lanfear and Koda Martin. On the other side, the back 7 consisted of Landis Durham, Riley Garner, Sam Moeller, Victor Davis, Deshawn Capers-Smith, Justin Dunning and Noel Ellis. In other words, you had a lot of inexperience on the field -- and it showed. Kyler, who looked quite good when he had the first team O-line in front of him, got planted twice with the backups. They weren't impressive. A holding call wiped out a bomb from Kyler to Jamal Jeffery, and another hold cost a second touchdown. A fumble caused by a sack when a guy came through on a blown assignment set BSU up at A&M's 22. On the other side, A&M's scheme became very vanilla and they were willing to exchange yards and points for time. The Aggies didn't blitz until late in the second half, when they turned Dwaine Thomas loose for a few plays. Otherwise, it was very conservative. But that doesn't mean you don't play hard, and that, I think, was what galled Sumlin. Some guys played hard -- Daylon Mack running down a back 30 yards downfield is ridiculous -- but a lot of twos, who should have been fired up, looked like they were just trying to run the clock out. Sumlin has bigger and better plans for this team, so that's not gonna fly.
Bottom line: the 1s were awesome. That was as good as a half of football as you'll see. The backups were not as good, but got needed work. The Aggies won by 33. They'll take it.
Coach Sumlin said the game was a tale of two halves, and he's right. The Aggies played about as well as you can play in the first half, then went in their shells and played a very unimpressive second half with the backups in. I don't think Sumlin was irritated by the second half score, but the lack of effort and the mistakes that led to it.
First, the positives, and they are many. Let's start with Kyle Allen, who was just toying with Ball State by the time the middle of the second quarter rolled around. He was 10-13 with 3 TDs, and he didn't throw a pass that looked like it could be picked off by a defender. You can debate the fade to Josh Reynolds, but he knows Reynolds so well that probably was the least of his worries. The TD pass to Jordan Davis was like stealing, but the last one, to Jeremy Tabuyo, was a thing of beauty. He told us afterwards that it was the same play he had hit RSJ on earlier, and he expected that their safety would fade to double RSJ, leaving the post open. That's what happened, and he threw a perfect ball to Tabuyo for the score. Allen showed hit accuracy throwing on the move, kept drives alive with his feet and basically commanded the offense, making numerous playcall changes at the line. He's good, and he's getting better.
Christian Kirk is beyond good. He's amazing. He's so deadly that Allen has the ability to change a play to target Kirk any time he wants to. And why not? The kid is virtually unstoppable. He's the most exciting wideout I've seen at A&M, and only Johnny tops him in terms of overall excitement. And he's played two games.
The starting offensive line was much better today, particularly in run blocking. There were big holes for the backs to run through, especially Brice Dolezal and Kwame Etwi. The Aggies picked up 270 yards on the ground, the most since the 2013 Cotton Bowl, and averaged 5.5 YPC. Etwi went over 100 yards in his first career appearance.
The defense, after giving up the 74 yards to start the game in two plays, Was stout. Ball State got about 20 more yards for the whole half, and that was it. At once point, they had run 24 plays for 18 yards. The Aggies didn't pick up a lot of sacks, but they dominated the line of scrimmage. Alonzo Williams may not get a lot of publicity, but he's playing extremely well and has had some huge stops in goal to go situations. Getting Otaro Alaka back out there with Shaan Washington was a big deal. The Aggies have plenty of speed to go sideline to sideline with their ones.
Bravo to Devante Harris, who has been the target of a lot of abuse -- much of it justified -- around here the past couple of years. He's stronger and smarter this year, and it shows in his play. He made a great play on a pass breakup to force a punt on one BSU possession, then got a pick six the next. Sumlin, you could tell, was really delighted with his play. Brandon Williams and Nick Harvey haven't been perfect, but they've been better than expected. If both learn from their experiences, they should get better as the season goes on.
And then the second half. At one point tonight, the Aggies had a front line on offense of Ryan Lindblade, Jermaine Eluemunor, J.J. Gustafson, Connor Lanfear and Koda Martin. On the other side, the back 7 consisted of Landis Durham, Riley Garner, Sam Moeller, Victor Davis, Deshawn Capers-Smith, Justin Dunning and Noel Ellis. In other words, you had a lot of inexperience on the field -- and it showed. Kyler, who looked quite good when he had the first team O-line in front of him, got planted twice with the backups. They weren't impressive. A holding call wiped out a bomb from Kyler to Jamal Jeffery, and another hold cost a second touchdown. A fumble caused by a sack when a guy came through on a blown assignment set BSU up at A&M's 22. On the other side, A&M's scheme became very vanilla and they were willing to exchange yards and points for time. The Aggies didn't blitz until late in the second half, when they turned Dwaine Thomas loose for a few plays. Otherwise, it was very conservative. But that doesn't mean you don't play hard, and that, I think, was what galled Sumlin. Some guys played hard -- Daylon Mack running down a back 30 yards downfield is ridiculous -- but a lot of twos, who should have been fired up, looked like they were just trying to run the clock out. Sumlin has bigger and better plans for this team, so that's not gonna fly.
Bottom line: the 1s were awesome. That was as good as a half of football as you'll see. The backups were not as good, but got needed work. The Aggies won by 33. They'll take it.
Last edited:
